Charlotte School System Backs Off Implementation of New Transgender Policy

NC Family Staff | August 8, 2016 | SHARE:

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System will hold off on implementing a new transgender policy that directly violates state law established by HB2. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) provided training for their schools on June 20 entitled “Supporting Transgender Students,” requiring them to allow students to use any restrooms or locker rooms “that correspond with their gender identity” and to call students by any name and pronoun they choose. It also instructed teachers and administrators that students be “permitted to participate in gender-based activities, such as overnight field trips, consistent with their gender identity.”

The extensive training materials also included a much-publicized cartoon character called “The Gender Unicorn.” This cute, purple cartoon was designed to help teachers and students of all ages learn the concepts of gender identity, gender expression/presentation, sexual attraction, and romantic/emotional attraction.

All of this activity was based on the opinion of CMS that a lower court ruling on the case of a transgender Virginia student might nullify the bathroom provisions in HB2. However, last week, the U.S. Supreme Court put a hold on that lower court ruling until it decides whether it will take up the case. CMS told the Charlotte Observer that it would delay implementation of the bathroom and locker room rules in light of that U.S. Supreme Court action.